National Historic Site of Canada / Lieu Historique du Canada

As a National Historic Site ( English ) or, because of the Canadian bilingualism, also Lieu historique national du Canada ( French ), around a thousand buildings, places, archaeological sites or facilities in Canada are designated as monuments of historical importance.

The sites are designated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada) . Approximately 970 Historic Sites are currently recognized, of which Parks Canada (Parcs Canada) maintains 171. (As of June 2020) In addition to the sites, the committee also identifies historical events ( National Historic Event / Événements d'importance historique nationale ) and persons ( National Historic Person / Personnes d'importance historique nationale ) . The first site to be designated as a National Historic Site on October 28, 1919, was the Cliff Site . This is the place at Port Dover , where two Sulpizian priests took possession of the north shore of Lake Erie for France.

About one in five of these sites is managed by Parks Canada (Parcs Canada) under the umbrella of Environment and Climate Change Canada , Canada's Ministry of the Environment. Parks Canada states that the criteria for listing are that the sites bear witness to defining historical moments, that they illustrate human creativity and cultural traditions. In doing so, they should be understood with their individual history as part of the larger history of Canada and provide a feeling for time, identity and place as a basis for understanding Canada as a whole.

The Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office (FHBRO) / Bureau d'examen des édifices fédéraux du patrimoine (BEÉFP) looks after numerous state-owned sites . On Saint Croix Island on the border between the USA and Canada, the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site is the only International Historic Site / Lieu historique international . The National Historic Sites also include two sites in France that were important to Canada as battle sites in World War I.

Various concepts have been tried since the 1990s to capture the history of the First Nations , Métis and Inuit within the context of the historical sites. The concept of the “cultural landscape” (Paysage culturel) prevailed, which is intended to make the close ties between social and cultural values and regional worldviews and the sites visible.

List of National Historic Sites / Lieu historique national

National Historic Site / Lieu historique national by province	Number of National Historic Sites / Lieu historique national in the province	first recognition of a National Historic Site / Lieu historique national in the province	comment
Alberta	60	1923
British Columbia	94	1923
Manitoba	56	1920
New Brunswick	62	1920
Newfoundland and Labrador	46	1951
Nova Scotia	86	1920
Halifax	35	1923
Northwest Territories	12	1930
Nunavut	12	1964
Ontario	263	1919	Since there are so many National Historic Sites in Ontario , different sites in the province have been regionally combined!
Hamilton	15th	1929
Kingston	21st	1923
Niagara region	26th	1921
Ottawa	25th	1925
Toronto	36	1923
Prince Edward Island	22nd	1933
Quebec	196	1919	Since there are many National Historic Sites in Québec , various sites in the province have been regionally combined!
Montreal region	59	1920
Quebec City	35	1923
Saskatchewan	45	1923
Yukon	12	1959